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Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Movie Review: Fantastic Four (2015)

I've said it many times on our podcast, but I enjoyed the previous Fantastic Four movies. The ones with Jessica Alba, Captain America, and the guy from Charmed in it. It seemed like the people in charge of this movie were mostly focused on reaching out to a younger demographic by having a young cast and including an inter-racial family. That's certainly what the previews focused on. It felt like the movie tried too hard to be hip and missed the mark. There was not a lot about this movie that I enjoyed. A few points I found interesting. Aside from seeing the characters and their specific powers, this movie didn't feel like a Fantastic Four movie which was my biggest issue with it.

I didn't find the cursing the characters did to be appropriate for the film. Honestly, I don't really care for any cursing in any movie, but sometimes it can work with the themes being expressed. Not here. This was a small thing that I felt may have been included to modernize the characters. I don't think it was necessary. I didn't like the scene with the guys drinking alcohol, either. Those two things don't go together with being Reed Richards.

I really disliked this version of Doom. He was like some environmentalist hippy. He didn't get a scar on his face and want to cover it with a metal mask. His precious face. He looked like a bum. He only cared about his new world and his green goo that gave him powers. It was strange how Doom was included as one of the original members to travel to the unknown world with Reed, Johnny, and Ben, and Sue was left behind. There was a thin line the characters were treading between being friends and enemies before Doom went super crazy which I found interesting. I, also, liked the chemistry between Reed and Sue, which I thought looked pretty natural.

The scenes with Reed on the run were kind of strange. He was a coward for abandoning his best friend, Ben, after everyone received their powers. Ben Grimm has it rough because his change is so obvious. He can't be discreet and blend in with a crowd. He's large, orange, and made of rocks. He, also, has it rough because he's being used by the government as a military tool.

The last, big fight scene was terrible. It was too overly-dramatic, especially on the part of Reed. He wasn't doing anything useful for most of it until he could literally pull himself together. And even then, he couldn't do anything by himself. Everyone had to work together. It was a bit cliche.

I couldn't get sucked into the characters and storyline. The portrayal of Johnny was pretty decent, though. All in all I give this movie 2 out of 5 stars. You can definitely skip seeing this movie, but if you do see it, you might find it slightly amusing.